As part of our collaboration with Zalando #ActivistsofOptimism we had a pleasure to work with and speak with Laurens. 

Can you please introduce yourself to the readers a little bit.

Hi my name is Laurens I’m a Dj, producer and a model. I lived in the Dominican Republic for over six years and I moved back to the Netherlands last year. 

What does optimism mean to you? 

Optimism actually means a lot to me because I personally am pretty optimistic person and also my family, my parents kind of taught me that. Especially my mindset you know I always think of the future in a positive way and on a long-term basis so that's why it's kind of a big part of my life.

What does freedom mean to you? 

What freedom means to me.. For example you can be free financially wise but that's not what it means to me. Freedom to me means being stable with our mind, being in a good mental position. Because you can have anything you want but if you're not happy for example it doesn't really do anything to you. You always be sad or depressed. Freedom really means to me being mentally healthy.

When do you feel the most free?

I personally feel the most free when I'm on stage performing because when I'm on stage you know nothing around really matters you only focus on the music and you see all the people dancing, so that makes me happy and free in a way. 

What keeps you happy and positive in these days? 

Mainly my life goals. Because I want to be a professional DJ, producer and model of course so I’m just really focused on that. Even though during Covid I couldn’t do a lot of shows so I put more time into producing and tried to master my craft even better. That’s just what keeps me going, that vision of the future. 

Where are you looking forward to the future?

I'm looking forward to accomplishing my dreams and goals which is being a professional DJ and international artist and a professional model as well. And also being able to spend a lot of time with my friends and family and involving them into what I do, taking them with me and be able to share my craft with other people.

What are you daydreaming about? 

What am I daydreaming about?  What I am mostly daydreaming about is me being on let’s say ‘Ultra’ Miami performing on the main stage. Just being there and everyone is dancing to my music and I'm just up there with a good team behind me of course and see my family and my friends with me there. That really gets me excited and makes me happy. 

Team:

Videography & Fashion: GINO GURRIERI @ginogurrieri 
Photography: HANS VAN BRAKEL @hansvanbrakelstudio
Make Up & Hair: WOUT PHILIPPO 
Casting TIMOTEJ LETONJA @timiletonja
Production: MAGDALENA ROE @magdalenaroe 
Video Assistant: JELLE VAN BRAKEL @jelle.vbr
Photography Assistant: SANDER VAN BRAKEL @sandervbrakel
Fashion Assistant: MICHAEL GEERTZEN @michael_geertzen
Make Up & Hair Assistant: LONA CERUTTI @lonamakeupartist
Words and Voiceover: CHELSEABOY @xochelseaboy 
Music: ‚Also Sprach Zarathustra, op.30’ RICHARD STRAUSS
TALENTS: CHELSEABOY @xochelseaboy , MAGDALENA ROE @magdalenaroe, TIMOTEJ LETONJ @timiletonja, DIEUDONNÉE @dieudonnee via PLACE MODELS @placemodels, SANDER VAN BRAKEL @sandervbrakel, JELLE VAN BRAKEL @jelle.vbr, MICHAEL GEERTZEN @michael_geertzen, LAURENS @therealfishtank via THE MOVEMENT MODELS @themovementmodels 
Photography & production assistant @daniel.sars 

All clothing available on Zalando.

https://www.zalando.nl